Carib produces, distributes hand sanitiser

THOUSANDS of front-line public sector workers, from army to social workers, have begun to benefit from an ongoing mass donation of hand sanitiser, fully produced and bottled by Carib Brewery.

On Tuesday, the brewery and its parent, Ansa McAl, welcomed representatives from the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, and the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services, which had trucks being loaded for immediate distribution from its plant in Champs Fleurs.

Carib Brewery’s marketing director Carla Furlonge-Walker told Newsday hundreds of front-line workers from the army to fire serviceshave already benefited from Carib’s donations of the concoction, which was contrived by one of the brewers.

“Social workers are also out there in all this and they are considered front-line,” she said. “We’ve gotten an overwhelming response.”

Each ministry will receive just over 100 boxes, each containing 24 bottles. More than 80,000 of the half-litre bottles have been or are being delivered to front-line workers.

The liquid has a pleasant odour and has a texture consistent with commercial brands.

“It’s a creative formula that uses over 70 per cent alcohol. It’s very moisturising, and as you can tell, you don’t get that strong alcohol scent,” said Furlonge-Walker.

“They like the quality because it doesn’t dry out your hands. It actually has arnica oil and tea tree oil.”

Hundreds of bottles were being filled manually on-site by generous volunteers. The hand sanitiser will continue to be bottled and distributed in batches to various arms of the respective ministries and other frontline workers.

The bottles have been provided by another Ansa McAl subsidiary, Ansa Polymer Ltd.

Although the hand sanitiser is being made and bottled at Carib, Furlonge-Walker noted that the brewery does not normally produce the high-level alcohol content required for hand sanitiser, but repurposed the alcohol, which is used for another one of its products.